Thank you for that very meaningful question, Ms. Chow.
First of all, let me say that we are increasing somewhat the targets for resettlement, particularly among privately sponsored refugees. When I was last at the committee, I announced our augmentation of the targets for the Middle Eastern region, with a particular focus on privately sponsored refugees. If you add up all of our targets globally, we anticipate that in 2009 you'll see an actual increase in the numbers for resettlement.
So Canada is playing its role. We do better than virtually any other country in the world in relative terms in welcoming refugees for resettlement and for protection, both as government-assisted refugees referred to us by the UNHCR and as privately sponsored refugees as well.
The issues you've raised out of Nairobi I am familiar with. I understand the frustration of people who have made applications for sponsorship of refugees in the African countries you've mentioned. On the other hand, my understanding is that the department faces some very obvious logistical difficulties operating in that region. Each one of these refugee applicants requires an interview. Frequently these interviews have to be conducted in very remote locations, sometimes in rural villages that are hundreds if not thousands of miles away from Nairobi.
We have a fully staffed immigration program in our mission in Nairobi. The department advises me that there's no physical space to add people in that mission, that we are at full capacity. I'm going to invite the deputy to fill in here, because these are operational issues, but I don't think it's a question of lack of resources. There are just some very serious logistical challenges in processing applications in a region such as the one you've raised.